St. Barbara's Memorial Nursing Home hosts WVU pep rally for residents

April 16--MONONGAH -- Residents at the St. Barbara's Memorial Nursing Home participated in a West Virginia University pep rally Sunday.

Sonja Wilson, having ties to WVU as an employee and ties to the nursing home where her mother stays, decided to arrange a WVU pep rally for the residents.

WVU Mountaineer mascot Trevor Kiess, WVU cheerleader April Kesling and WVU Mountaineer Idol Izzie Keim visited the residents on Sunday afternoon as part of one of their daily activities.

Keim performed for the residents singing "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Elvis Presley and Kiess and Kesling pepped up the crowd.

Residents also had the opportunity to get an autographed picture by Kiess, and were given new WVU T-shirts to wear during the next game.

St. Barbara's Memorial activity director Amanda Elder said that when Wilson wanted to put this event together, she was happy to accommodate.

"It's always nice to have visitors come and see us," Elder said. "It gives the residents a sense of still being involved in the community and are still a part of the community. We always love when visitors and volunteers come in. It spices things up a little bit."

Elder said that her and her assistant plan events for the residents seven days a week, but she said this event was special because of the amount of Mountaineer fans at St. Barbara's Memorial.

"We are huge fans here," Elder said. "On game days I go through the halls and turn the TV on for everybody who wants to watch the games whether it be football or basketball. We always have it on in our activity room, and we have our own tailgate parties with little snacks and different things for the game.

"When they were at home, a lot of residents went to many games themselves and traveled with the team from place to place, so we have very big fans here."

With just 57 total residents, the activity room at St. Barbara's Memorial was full with Mountaineers in their blue and gold.

"We just want to say thank you to the Mountaineer, the Mountaineer Idol and WVU cheerleader for coming out and Sonja Wilson for putting this all together for us. We appreciate it," Elder said. "Let's go Mountaineers!"

Email Kaitlyn Neff at kneff@timeswv.com and follow her on Twitter at @kneffTWV.

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